Re: Stevehman's LED buyer's guide

Not a confusion as much as a lack of paying attention to that particular point. I was still giving him the benefit of the doubt at >28 watts per sq ft... it's even worse at the actual power draw at >22 watts per sq ft.

Re: Stevehman's LED buyer's guide

I'd be more than glad to test your LED out against the GS300 after my current grow, it's a great way to show people here that your product can produce and is worth the monetary investment.

The GS300 and G8-340 are similar grow lights. They both have 144 x 3Watt diodes and come in a similar housing unit. The diode spectrum formulations are somewhat different in that the G8-340 covers a wider spectra. The GS300 is priced at $649 and the G8-340 at $599.

Re: Stevehman's LED buyer's guide

Originally Posted by DormGrow.com

The GS300 and G8-340 are similar grow lights. They both have 144 x 3Watt diodes and come in a similar housing unit. The diode spectrum formulations are somewhat different in that the G8-340 covers a wider spectra. The GS300 is priced at $649 and the G8-340 at $599.

A side by side comparison grow would be interesting. Contact us at info@dormgrow.com if you would like to do a test grow.

I've emailed you regarding this. Hope to hear from you, as the more test grows we have to look at, and reviews of products to read, the better educated our members are, and the cream of the crop, LEDwise, will be quite evident. and thank you for your sponsorship here at 420 Magazine!

Re: Stevehman's LED buyer's guide

Hi to all..

A somewhat noobie here. I haven't done a grow in close to 30 years and boy, have things changed. Back then I used HPS with an ebb and flow system. It worked like a charm. However, two sets of kids sure put a damper on my growing and now that they are all out of the house (finally) I want to start growing again.

Space is at a premium (no suchthing as a spare bedroom) so I will be doing my grow in the basement (should help keeping everything cool in the summer and warm in the winter - I live in Canada). I have decided to go with a DIY DWC (thanks Stevehman your grow journals are inspiring, and Tulip, who I first started following you on RIU, was so happy to find you on 420). Really don't want to use HPS, HID or MH. So I have been thinking about CFLs (buying a whole bunch of 26 Watts, 14 - 18 of them) to cover a 2'x2' grow area. The other option is to go with LED (and that's why I'm reading this thread with great interest). I figure a 300W LED (drawing 195 - 225 watts) would suffice. So now comes the hard part. Who to buy from? One of the 420 sponsers? There is Stealth Grow, Dorm Grow, Advanced LED etc. They all promise different coverage, spectrums etc.. And the prices? Wow, I'm in the wrong business.

So down to brass tacks. I have a limited income (hope to retire in 4 years) and I fork out over 40% of it to an ex-wife. This means that money is tight but you can't put a price on freedom and peace of mind. I have read extensively on 3 watt vs 1 watt LEDs, various spectrum and noisy fans on various lights. The argument about "American" made LEDs vs. other manufacturers is a moot point as most of the "American" LEDs (especially the non-white) are not made in "America". As stated in this thread, they are "American" branded.

I looked at "eshine" and was not impressed with what they had to offer. Sounded like a recipe for disaster, especially if something went wrong with them (imagine the LED light dying during the middle of a grow and having to wait a month or two to get it repaired in China). The other american made lights offer 2 - 3 year warrenties, but you have to ship the whole unit back.

However, I have run across a vendor that has an interesting slant on warrenty repairs. Here's a quote from their site (I'm not sure if I'm allowed to do this, if not I'm sure a moderator will delete it?). After witnessing all this nonsense, we decided to take it upon ourselves to offer LEDs at reasonable prices with an unbeatable warranty, using the spectrum and ratio we found to work best. We just modified the insides of the lights to make them more user friendly. One thing in particular we did, was made modular circuit boards that take 25 LEDs each (rather 1 large circuit board for the entire fixture), and has a quick connect wire harness feature. And 1 circuit board goes to 1 power supply. So if an LED or power supply fails, the rest of the unit stays in operation while we'll send you a replacement for totally free as long you own the light. That's right, lifetime warranty. The repairs are simple to do, and only needs a standard screwdriver and about 15 minutes of your time.

I really like this idea, 75% of my light still running until I get my replacement part. Awesome. The lights are 13 spectrum based (don't know if I need that much, they claim that I do - lol), however, I have the option of selecting my own spectrum and ratios and optional optical 55, 60, 80, and 90 degree lenses. Their prices are phenomenal ($377 for a 100x3watt, 295 watt draw). They seem to be a new company (Google does not bring up a whole lot on them).

The company is called Area 51 lighting. 4 guys from Virginia, who have the units manufactured in China and dropshipped for free to America and Canada. The only information I have found about them on 420 is a grow journal by 2001vettez06 that has 2 entries and some nice pics, but only of fully grown plants.

So the big question is, has anybody heard anything about this company (good, bad or indifferent)? Any feed back would be really welcome.

Re: Stevehman's LED buyer's guide

They are a very new company and there is almost no info about them other than a few new post talking about their cheap prices. Their design does not seem modular from the models they show for sale on their site. At least they are being up front about the fact that they drop ship. Honestly, to me it appears that they are simple offering the products that eshine or one of the other Chinese manufactures offer with a little mark-up. They allow you to customize because the manufacturer allows them to. Them allowing you to change the blend would suggest that they have either not tested their lights or are unsure that they have the correct spectrum.

Re: Stevehman's LED buyer's guide

Just searched GrowStealth and StealthGrow. Holy crap! Sure looks like one of them is trying to piggy back on the reputation of the other. Even the logos are similar. If I owned GrowStealth I would be pissed! I would be talking to a lawyer and I woud be suing (if possible). Thanks for pointing that out Bassman. Still don't know what I'm going to do. Probably CFLs until the dust settles a bit more on the LED scene. Right now the best appears to be the Advanced LED, but considering the price of the individual LEDs and optical lenses, they are really overpriced. If I could find a reasonably priced massive aluminium heatsink, I would consider building my own (I can get the LEDs and optics for a reasonable price). DOn't really want to use a small heatsink with massive/noisy fans.

Re: Stevehman's LED buyer's guide

Originally Posted by borghead

Really don't want to use HPS, HID or MH. So I have been thinking about CFLs (buying a whole bunch of 26 Watts, 14 - 18 of them)

Ouch, 18 26-watt CFLs is 468 watts. That's about 10 more watts than my Lumatek 400-watt ballast draws on "SuperLumen" (10% overdrive). And a little more heat & a little less light. Guess it cost you less to buy them and the sockets & stuff than the $200 I spent on the ballast, a Lumatek-branded HPS bulb, and a cheap reflector, though. And if you're only growing in four square feet, such a setup would be overkill anyway, unless you turned it down to its 250-watt setting (and that would still be kind of "warm and bright," for the space. Not extremely so, but you'd want a fan for sure).

Originally Posted by borghead

So now comes the hard part. Who to buy from? One of the 420 sponsers?

Several of our LED-selling sponsors' panels are being - or have been - used in grow journals here. You can use the site's search function (click on the Forums link at the top left of any page here) and look for informative threads. It allows you to type a keyword (such as the name of a sponsor) and highlight the forum you want the search to be confined to - and you can have it automatically search in "daughter forums" (so you can highlight the Journals section and the search will cover the Current, Completed, and Abandoned Journals forums together.

You'll be able to see how at least some of the panels perform and how their users like(d) them.

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Re: Stevehman's LED buyer's guide

Originally Posted by borghead

Just searched GrowStealth and StealthGrow. Holy crap! Sure looks like one of them is trying to piggy back on the reputation of the other. Even the logos are similar. If I owned GrowStealth I would be pissed! I would be talking to a lawyer and I woud be suing (if possible). Thanks for pointing that out Bassman. Still don't know what I'm going to do. Probably CFLs until the dust settles a bit more on the LED scene. Right now the best appears to be the Advanced LED, but considering the price of the individual LEDs and optical lenses, they are really overpriced. If I could find a reasonably priced massive aluminium heatsink, I would consider building my own (I can get the LEDs and optics for a reasonable price). DOn't really want to use a small heatsink with massive/noisy fans.

Borghead

I love my GS300 Pro-Bloom. I also will love my DS-200's. Yes, I ordered a pair.

Re: Stevehman's LED buyer's guide

G'day All,

Borghead,
I'm a relative newbie to LED growing, and had the same problem when I started researching LED's, so much info it's confusing. I started with a 90 watt UFO, in a 2'x3' wardrobe. Sweet for vegging, but struggled with flowering. Then 50% of the LED's failed during flowering. Still getting the royal runaround from the supplier, their latest, after I mentioned Hosebombers probable causes to them, was that "I do the repairs myself."
I just bought a GS300Q, from GrowStealth. It is very quiet, considering the 6 fans, the heat output is on the low side of moderate, and WOW!, is it bright.
I can't remember where/who, but I am sure in my search, at least 1 supplier was offering a UFO style light with 90x3watt LED'S. Maybe someone else (with better cognitive retention) on this forum has seen them too. In my new to LED's opinion, that would be a far better option than cfl's. Or 2 90 watt_ers might be the way to go considering your space restrictions.

Re: Stevehman's LED buyer's guide

Yes, I goofed. Originally I was considering using 15W CFLs (18 x 15 Watt = 270 Watts). But when I compared the lumens per watt, the 26W were higher. I would only need 10 and 8 fewer sockets.

Yes I have searched the forums extensively. I have read all of SteveHman's LED grows ( it did take me close to a week - some of those journals are long...). Unfortunately only one or two were comparison grows (two different types of LED lights). I will keep reading and waiting..

Milly, can't find anything along the line of 90x3w UFO. Besides, many sites and threads suggest avoiding the UFOs. I would love to buy a GS300Q, but alas, it's not in my price range, at all. I have seen some decent grow journals using CFLs (mixing the 2700K and 6500K for flowering and vegging). I just want to able to grow some decent plants for personal. It's been getting harder to find as I age, most of my old friends no longer supply or partake. My last supplier was very young and I was shocked to see him at my grandson's school play. It turns out that his younger brother was also in the play. I really have to start growing my own.